Things That We Lost
by StormWolf10
Summary: Part of the Second Chance verse. With news of Alec's and Rose's engagement spreading, Alec gets himself an unwanted phone call.


**A/N: In which Alec gets himself an unwanted phone call…**

The news of Alec's and Rose's engagement had spread fast. Soon, the whole of Broadchurch knew about it, and the Police department had even decked his office out in balloons, leaving Alec sat in them like some sort of sad birthday party no one had turned up to. Ellie had been over the moon with the news, hugging Alec and grinning, and rushing about talking about helping Rose make the wedding plans. Even SOCO Brian had clapped Alec on the back, not noticing as the Scotsman grimaced and tried not to think where his hands had been. The news had even spread up to Glasgow, to Donald, courtesy of Rose's excitement and Alec's obligation. Unfortunately for them, that also meant that it had spread to someone else, who was certainly not welcome in the celebration.

Alec growled in annoyance as the familiar number appeared on the caller ID of his mobile. The call was sort of expected, but definitely not wanted. With a grumble, he reached across his desk for his phone, picking it up and answering it.

"Yes?" Alec asked harshly.

There was a derisive sniff on the other end of the phone.

"Is it true?" Bea asked from the other end of the line, voice harsh. "Are you really going to marry _that_ _tart_?"

Alec rolled his eyes. Well, that put a dampener on his mood, he decided.

"Yes, Bea," he ground out angrily. "Why are you calling?"

Another sniff, and a pause as Bea took her time to reply.

"Just wanted to see if it was true," Bea dismissed after a few moments. "If your standards had really dropped that low."

Once again, Alec growled, an almost feral sound.

"Bea-" Alec began angrily, intending to end the conversation for once and for all.

"Because you could still have me, you know."

Alec stopped. And blinked. That hadn't been what he'd expected.

Bea evidently took Alec's silence as a sign to continue, which she did eagerly.

"Besides, quite frankly, I don't feel Neil's good enough," Bea continued dismissively. "Not for Freya as a step-Dad, and certainly not for Maisie. He hasn't been… Quite up to standard recently." She paused, letting the words sink in. Then, she was talking again. "Of course, you'd have to prove yourself, prove that there'll be no more working late at night, no more missed dinners…. You'd make a good Dad to Maisie, Alec."

"Aye," Alec agreed quietly after a few moments. "But it's not happening, Bea."

From the other end of the phone, Alec heard Bea's breathing hitch slightly.

"I see," Bea responded quietly after a few moments of silence. Then, her voice turned bitter. "Got yourself someone younger, prettier, blonder to replace me, then? It's always the way."

"_You_ left _me_!" Alec interrupted before Bea could go on. "And Rose is replacing _nobody_! She's better than that!"

"I get it, Alec," Bea said after a while, echoing her words from Christmas. "You won Freya. And Rose won you." She paused. "I lost."

"You lost me long before Rose came into the picture, Bea," Alec bit out. "You lost me the moment you started seeing Neil behind my back!"

"I wanted some excitement!" Bea protested, and even over the phone Alec thought he could hear her crying. "You were always bloody working late, Freya was growing up, going out on her own. And there was me, alone. I wanted to get out, live a little!"

"You ballsed up a case, Bea! You lost valuable evidence! A murderer got away because you '_wanted some excitement_'!" Alec reminded Bea angrily, only just managing to keep his voice down lest Ellie or Brian poked their heads round his office door to ask what was wrong.

"But you still love me, Alec," Bea interrupted, eagerness back in her tone. "You covered for me, took the blame. I was silly, I was being glaikit for leaving you, for getting a divorce, for being with Neil… But we can put that behind us! You can bring Freya back up to Glasgow with you, we can start a new life together! You, and me, and Freya and Maisie! It'll be like it used to be, when Freya was little; walks along the beach, getting ice cream, pitching tents in the garden…"

"Those are things that we lost, Bea," Alec interrupted quietly. "We lost all those things the moment I found out you'd cheated on me." He paused, dreading the answer to his next question. "And what about Oliver?"

"Oliver?" Bea echoed, perplexed. "What about him?"

"He's my son, Bea," Alec reminded his ex lowly. "You keep on about this wonderful life with me and you, and Freya, and Maisie, but you've not mentioned my son once."

On the other end of the line, Bea hastened to reply. Alec snorted, speaking over her.

"That doesn't mean I'm even slightly entertaining the prospect of coming back to you, Bea," Alec told his ex firmly. "I'm not going to leave Oliver behind. And I'm not leaving Rose."

"I'd leave Neil," Bea responded immediately.

Alec snorted.

"And?" he asked. "What's that going to do? Other than disrupt Maisie's life?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"I didn't cover for you because I still loved you, Bea," Alec continued, voice quieter. "Maybe I still loved you a bit, back then. Cared for you, possibly. But that's gone now, Bea. And I felt betrayed, more than anything. I only covered for you to protect Freya." He paused. "I knew the Sandbrook case was making me ill, the stress of it all, the media…" Alec swallowed. "I figured that if one of Freya's parents would go down for it, it should be the one with a chronic heart problem."

Once again, there was silence from the other end of the phone.

"I never wanted to lose you, Alec," Bea admitted quietly after several long seconds. "Not really. I just… I wanted to try something new, do something spontaneous, a bit reckless… But I never really wanted to lose you."

"Well you have, Bea," Alec responded calmly. "You have."

And with that, Alec Hardy hung up the phone.


End file.
